Fighter
by KaitlynRae99
Summary: Emilia Black was born into two different worlds. One was where her mother belonged in and the other where her father belonged in. Her mother's world didn't accept her father but her father's world wasn't like that. Emilia is pulled between these two worlds as her mother's tries to force her choose but...why would she when she had the best of both worlds?
1. Prologue

**A TEENAGED** girl walked inside the house with a large, black-furred dog walking beside her. When she closed the door, the dog grabbed a black, long coat from the coat rack beside the door and pulled it down. Suddenly, its fur disappeared and skin appeared in its place. The now human figure stood up straight with the coat wrapped around their shoulders. The figure was an older gentleman, in his mid to late thirties, with long, black hair which contrasted with his striking grey eyes. He was tall; taller than the teenager standing by the door; with an unshaven face and black tattoos that stood against his pale skin.

A smile formed on his lips as his grey eyes locked with the dark eyes belonging to the teenager. She was an incredibly gorgeous young girl of Hispanic descent with long, ink-black hair that ended at her waist, and dark brown-gold flecked eyes that could be mistaken for black which complimented her olive skin. A silver frame bounded square ruby necklace was around her neck. On her right wrist was a bracelet that winds up and around her wrist with a lion's head laying on the centre of the back of her hand. It looked like a lion was wrapping itself around her wrist. Both the man and the teenager had some similar features which gave the impression that the man was her father.

The teenager's eyebrow frowned when she felt something was wrong in the air in the house. The man noticed the teenager's expression and grew concern. "What's wrong, Emilia?" he asked her; gripping her upper arm tightly.

She held a finger to her lips before pointing towards the stairs. Her silence made the man know that something was wrong. He let go of her arm and watched as her bracelet suddenly became alive as it slid off her wrist and transformed into a whip. She whipped it out to her side causing it to straighten and began a staff with a lion's head on the end.

The man reached into a pocket inside the coat to produce a wooden stick and held out in front of him. Together, they slowly crept up the stairs without not making any squeal or creek. When Emilia reached the top of the stairs, her face went white when her dark eyes locked on a metal sword that had black marks engrave in the metal. The sword was stained with blood. The man and Emilia made eye contact with each other before following the blood trail leading away from the sword. Her skin turned white from her tight grip on her staff as she followed the trail to a closed door which she used her hand to lightly push it open. A loud scream rang through the silent air as her hand slapped over her mouth in shock. The man rushed toward Emilia and look into the room to see what made her scream.

On the floor laid a beautiful older woman with black marks, that were the same as the ones on the sword laying outside the room, inked over her exposed skin. Her dark eyes were open and lifeless as she laid in a pool of her own blood. Blood stained her throat and dripped onto the hardwood floors. Beside her open hand was a blood-stained dagger but Emilia knew that it didn't belong to the woman. It looked like the woman took her own life but Emilia and the man knew that was false.

Not caring about the blood, Emilia crawled over to the woman and moved her head to rest in the teenager's lap. She felt how cold and stiff the woman was and how her once olive skin now a deathly pale as tears streamed down Emilia's face and fell on the woman's face. The man knelt down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She buried her face into his chest as she began to sob. Tears streamed down the man's face as he tried to comfort the mourning teenager...but how could he when he was also mourning?

* * *

"Those remaining with take their place with the fallen," a man wearing a white suit spoke to those also wearing white that surrounded him.

Emilia and her father walked in front of the crowd, both also wearing white, and stood beside a body covered by a white sheet with flower petals laid over the sheet. The two gripped each other's hands tightly as Emilia's looked down at the body and placed a hand on its shoulders. The white dress she wore exposed black markings over her olive skin that were present on the others in the room except for her father.

"Those remaining will say the name of the fallen," the man spoke again as Emilia felt unable to stop her tears.

"Gab..." Emilia felt her throat close as she stared out at the others.

She then looked down at the body and sobbed as she fell into her father's arms; "Mum."

He wrapped his arms tightly around her as he pulled a brave face for his sobbing daughter. "Gabriella Black," his voice was strong as he spoke his wife's name with silent tears running down his face.

"Pulvis et umbra sumus. For we are dust and shadows. Ave atque vale. Hail and farewell," the others spoke in unison as the father and daughter walked back into the group.

A robe-wearing man whose mouth was stitched closed glided over to the body and pointed a glowing metal stick to its forehead before standing away and spread their arms out like their arms were wings. A gold mist drifted up from the body and up to the air as the body disappeared with it. Emilia continued to sob as she watched her mother's body disappear.

" _I love you, Emilia_ ," she could hear my mother's voice in her head as she felt sobs racked her body.

" _Protect our daughter, Sirius,_ " Gabriella's voice echoed through his head as he tightened his grip on his daughter's shoulders.

" _I will,_ " he responded back; placing a kiss on the top of Emilia's head.

Those surrounding them stared at Emilia with pity but gave Sirius a look like he didn't have the right to attend his own wife's funeral. All because he wasn't a Protector like his wife and daughter.


	2. The Order

**EMILIA**

* * *

" **IF** anyone has a right to know, it's Harry. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't even know Voldemort was back. He's not a child, Molly!" Dad argued to Mrs Weasley as the rest of the Order sat around the table.

I was sat in the chair beside his with Remus sitting on my other side with his arm wrapped around my shoulders. My arms were crossed over my chest as I watched the adults continue to argue about Harry. "He's not an adult either. He's not James, Sirius," Mrs Weasley snapped back to him which made him respond; "He's not your son."

I lightly smacked Dad's arm which caused him to stare at me with a confused expression. "He's as good as. Who else has he got?" Mrs Weasley asked him a rhetorical question but Dad still gave an answer.

"He's got me!"

This caused Snape to put an input in the argument; "How touching and paternal, Black. Perhaps Potter will grow up to be a felon, just like his godfather."

His input caused me to roll my dark eyes which I knew Dad mirror my actions. "Now you stay out of this, Snivellus. I don't care what Dumbledore says about your supposed reformation. I know better," Dad snarled back as he glared at the other man.

"Why don't you tell him?" my attention on the conversation drifted when I heard a noise coming from outside the door.

I stood up from my chair which caused Remus' arm to drop from my shoulders. He stared at me in confusion as his eyes watched me leave the room. Once I closed the door, I saw Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, was nibbling on something. "What have you got, Crookshanks?" I asked the ginger cat as I knelt down beside him and removed his plaything from between his paws.

I smirked when I recognized what his plaything was and I stood up straight with Crookshanks stroking himself against my black jean-clad legs. My head looked up to see those not allowed in the Order meetings with looks of fright but their looks changed to relief when they saw it was me. My smirk grew larger as I held the twins' Extendable Ears between my fingers. "You are very lucky that I wasn't your mother," I informed the twins before moving my eyes to lock on Harry who was staring at me in shock.

He was shocked on how much I have changed over the summer as last time he saw me; my hair was pinned straight with full bangs and my clothes were a little baggy and almost completely covered my skin besides my head and hands. Now, my bangs were gone and my hair was now in soft curls. My clothes were now tight and were cut just above my cleavage where my ruby necklace was rested above and my arms also exposed, showcasing the black marks on my skin.

My smirk turned into a smile as I spoke to him; "It's good to see you, Harry."

I didn't allow him to respond as I walked back into the kitchen while putting the ear in the back pocket of my jeans. The meeting was finishing up and some left until only Dad, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley, Moody and the Weasleys remained. Mrs Weasley called those upstairs for dinner while I sat down at the table; twirling my dinner knife in my hand. Suddenly, I heard a loud crack ring through the house which was followed by Mrs Weasley screaming; "Just because you're allowed to use magic now does not mean you have to whip out your wands for everything!"

This made me realise that the twins had apparated behind her which gave her a scare. Those boys one day will give her a heart attack.

I felt someone slid into the empty seat beside me which made me look over to see George sitting beside me with a great grin on his face. I rolled my eyes at him as I pointed the knife tip to the table and spun it around in circles. Mrs Weasley ladled out some stew and sliced up bread for everyone before she returned back to the stove and remained hard at work. The conversations around the table varied, and I caught snippets of each one before quickly losing interest.

"This is very, very peculiar. It seems your hearing in the Ministry is to be before the entire Wizengamot," Mr Weasley informed Harry from his chair where he sat reading the letter from the Ministry.

"I don't understand. What has the Ministry of Magic got against me?" Harry's question caused silent to fall over the table.

"Show him. He'll find out soon enough," Moody ordered from his spot leaning against the wall.

As the copy of the _Daily Prophet_ was beside me, I slid it over to Kingsley who showed Harry. On the front cover was a photo of Harry with the title " _The Boy Who Lies_ ". "He's been attacking Dumbledore as well. Fudge is using all his power, including his influence at the Daily Prophet... to smear anyone who claims the Dark Lord has returned," Dad explained making Harry question; "Why?"

"He thinks Dumbledore's after his job," Remus stated causes Harry's face to hardened with anger.

"No one in their right mind could believe that..." Remus interrupted Harry's rant; "Exactly the point. Fudge isn't in his right mind. It's been twisted and warped by fear."

"Now, fear makes people do terrible things, Harry. The last time Voldemort gained power... he almost destroyed everything we hold most dear. Now he's returned, and I'm afraid the minister will do almost anything... to avoid facing that terrifying truth," Remus' voice turned soft as he explained Fudge's motive behind his attacks.

Remus' words caused Harry's face to soften as his eyes looked down at the paper that was still in his hands.

"We think," Dad announced, "Voldemort wants to build up his army again. Fourteen years ago, he had huge numbers at his command. And not just witches and wizards, but all manner of dark creatures. He's been recruiting heavily, and we've been attempting to do the same. But gathering followers isn't the only thing he's interested in."

"We believe Voldemort may be after something. Something he didn't have last time," Dad finished after he paused from a few moments

He ignored Moody's attempts to shut him up and I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Mrs Weasley had ceased her cooking to stare almost murderously at Dad. "You mean, like a weapon?" Harry asked and Dad was about to answer but Mrs Weasley cut in.

"No," Mrs Weasley interrupted firmly, throwing down her knife before she stormed over to Harry to rip the paper of his hands. "That's enough. He's just a boy. You say much more and you might as well induct him into the Order."

"Good, I want to join! If Voldemort's raising an army, then I want to fight!" Harry exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes at his exclaim as Dad praised him.

Having lost my appetite, I threw my knife down on the table and stood up from my seat before walking out of the kitchen, ignoring everyone's stares as they watched me walk out of the room.


	3. Home

**EMILIA**

* * *

 **MY** head was leaning against the wall beside the window of the compartment with my legs resting on the seat. I could feel the worn spine of the book that I was reading between my fingers. No one was in the compartment with me as the others were off somewhere else but I didn't care. I like the silence.

A loud sigh escaped my lips as I dropped my book into my lap and flipped it over to look at the cover. My finger lightly traced the cover as I looked down longingly at it. The book was Mum's which she use to read to me when I was younger. It was a book about Protector fairy tales and myths.

I was so focused on the book that I didn't notice George was sitting in the seat across from me until I looked up and almost jumped out of my skin. "Jesus, George! A little warning next time," I scowled at him which made he laugh at me.

I glared at him as he continued laughing. He was laughing so hard that he was clutching his stomach and had fallen to his side. "Are you done?" I asked him after a few moments of watching him laugh with my arms crossed over my chest.

He wiped his finger under his eyes as if he was wiping away tears before saying; "I'm done. I'm done."

I rolled my eyes at him and I dropped my legs down from the seat to now rest on the ground. "Not to be rude or anything but what do you want?" I asked him; leaning back against the seat.

My question caused him to became serious as I watched his face lose his smile. He leaned forward to rest a hand on my tight-covered knee. I rested my hand on top of his and rubbed my thumb in circles on the back of his hand. The corner of his lips tilted up into a small smile as his dark eyes locked on mine. We didn't speak but I felt like we didn't need to. Our silence wasn't awkward...it felt right.

However, the silence was interrupted by Fred sliding the compartment door open and sticking his head in. "Em, we found you," he announced as George and I pulled away from each other.

As Fred went to sit down, I noticed George glaring at him which made me stare at him with frowning brows. I shook my head as I stopped myself from wondering why he was glaring at his brother and my head turned to look at the other twin. "Can I help you, Fred?" I asked him; crossing my arms over my chest.

They turned their heads to look at each other and gave each other cheekily smirks before turning back to look at me. For the remainder of the train ride to Hogwarts, the twins and I were discussing their inventions for their joke shop.

* * *

"Good evening, children. Now, we have two changes in staffing this year. We're pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank...who'll be taking Care of Magical Creatures...while Professor Hagrid is on temporary leave. We also wish to welcome our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher...Professor Dolores Umbridge. And I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing the professor good luck," Dumbledore spoke to all of Hogwarts.

I was seated across from Hermione who was in-between Ron and Harry while the twins were seated on either side of me.

"Now, as usual, our caretaker, Mr Filch, has asked me to remind you..." Dumbledore was interrupted by a high pitched noise.

Everyone turned their heads to looked over at a woman, who looked more like a toad than a person, dressed in all pink that made your eyes start to water. She stood up from her seat and began walking towards Dumbledore to address all of us students.

"Thank you, headmaster, for those kind words of welcome. And how lovely to see all your bright...happy faces smiling up at me," I looked around to see no one was smiling or even looking happy as we all stared at her.

"I'm sure we're all going to be very good friends," her high-pitched voice continued and I felt like my ear would start bleeding.

"That's likely," the twins spoke in unison making me lightly chuckle under my breath.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered...the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. Although each headmaster...has brought something new to this historic school...progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged. Let us preserve what must be preserved...perfect what can be perfected...and prune practices that ought to be prohibited," Umbridge said, leaving a lot of us not understanding or not caring what she was talking about.

"Thank you, Professor Umbridge. That really was most illuminating," Dumbledore said before continuing what he was going to tell us before Toad-face interrupted.

"Illuminating? What a load of waffle," Ron spoke, making us all look at him.

"What's it mean?" Harry asked and I noticed Hermione was hesitating on telling them.

"It means the Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts," I answered before looking back at Dumbledore, letting what I said sink in.


	4. Protector, Not Mother

**EMILIA**

* * *

" **EM** , are you sure you're fine to attend classes?" Hermione asked me as we walked towards the Great Hall.

I scoffed at her worry and asked her; "Of course. Why do you ask?"

She didn't answer but gave me a small smile. We locked arms and walked together to the Great Hall where we grabbed a light breakfast before heading to class. As we were walking, I noticed people staring at me. I guess my change in appearance was noticed by everyone in Hogwarts.

Once we finally reached the classroom, we both sat down in one of the empty seats beside each other. As Hermione talked to the others in our class, I began to lightly trace the black marks which felt like burnt skin on my arm. I was always able to hide them with the sleeves of my uniform while I was able to hide in the one on my neck with my shirt collar and hair.

Suddenly, I noticed someone had charmed a paper bird to fly which I watched until it was burnt and landed on the desk of the Patil twins.

"Good morning, children," An annoying high-pitched voice broke my daydream making everyone turn to look towards the back of the room as I let out a silent groan.

Ugh, the Toad is here. "Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations. O-W-Ls. More commonly known as OWLs. Study hard and you will be rewarded. Fail to do so, and the consequences may be severe," Umbridge informed us as she walked to the front of the room while using her wand to write on the chalkboard.

"Your previous instruction in this subject has been disturbingly uneven. But you'll be pleased to know, from now on...you will be following a carefully structured, Ministry-approved...course of defensive magic," Umbridge continued to speak as she magically handed books to us.

Hermione flipped through the book as I just stared at the cover in disbelief as the book was for beginners, not 5th year Hogwarts students.

"Yes?" Umbridge asked as Hermione raised her hand to speak.

"There's nothing in here about using defensive spells?" Hermione asked resulting in Umbridge laughing at her.

"Using spells? Well, I can't imagine why you would need to use spells in my classroom," she answered making all of us stared at her in confusion.

"We're not gonna use magic?" I heard Ron asked from his spot behind me.

"You'll be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way," Umbridge explained making me roll my eyes.

"What use is that? If we're attacked, it won't be risk-free," Harry snapped and I noticed Umbridge immediately changed her tone once he spoke.

"Students will raise their hands when they speak in my class. It is the view of the Ministry...that a theoretical knowledge will be sufficient...to get you through your examinations...which, after all, is what school is all about," Umbridge continued to try and explain why.

"And how's theory supposed to prepare us for what's out there?" Harry asked, getting angrier with the Toad.

"There is nothing out there, dear. Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourself?" Umbridge asked which made Harry snap back; "Oh, I don't know. Maybe Lord Voldemort."

The room fell silent and I smirk at the fear that appeared on Umbridge's face but it was only for a moment. "Now, let me make this quite plain. You have been told...that a certain dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."

"It's not a lie. I saw him. I fought him," Harry was interrupted by Umbridge; "Detention, Mr Potter."

"Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord?" Harry snapped

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," Umbridge's tone almost seemed sad that Harry would suggest that.

"It was murder. Voldemort killed him," Harry continued but was silenced by Umbridge's loud voice; "Enough!"

No one opened their mouths, either in fear of also getting detention or they were all still in shock by just what happened.

"Enough. See me later, Mr Potter. My office," Umbridge spoke calmly before continuing on with the lesson.

The lesson continued on in silence and as I was leaving the classroom, I was confronted by an angry Harry. "Why didn't' you say that I was telling the truth?" Harry asked me, blocking me from walking away.

"I may be assigned as your protector Harry, but I'm not your babysitter... or your mother," I snapped at him, pushing him out of my way and stormed off.

I wasn't looking where I was going as I bumped into someone's chest. "Well, hello cousin. Where are your friends?" a voice belonging to Malfoy spoke, making me look up at him.

"I'm not in the mood for your drama Malfoy," I told him and tried to push past him but he grabbed my arms, making me unable to leave.

"Let go of me Malfoy," I demanded him, trying to remove his hands from me but his grip tightened.

Malfoy just laughed until I finally had enough as I grabbed the sides of his head and smacked against his nose with my forehead. The strength behind my headbutt caused his nose to break as evidenced by the sound of a bone-cracking. He fell to the floor with his hand over his nose and I could see blood dripping down his hand. I glared down at him before storming away from him. I ignored all the stares and whispers about what just happened as I walked to my next class, hoping that no one else would come up to me throughout the rest of the day.


	5. Not The Same Emilia Anymore

**EMILIA**

* * *

 **THE** room I was in felt hot and I could feel drops of sweat running down my back. My hair was sticking to my skin and could feel my muscles aching from the amount of strength I exhorted into my punches but that didn't stop me.

I was so focused on my punching that I didn't hear someone open the door and stand behind me until I felt a hand be placed on my shoulder. I quickly reacted by gripping their wrist tightly and I spinning my body around. My movement twisted their arm with enough force to send them tumbling to the ground. I stood above them with my hands in fists, ready to attack before gasping loudly and slapping my hands onto my mouth. The person was George who was groaning in pain from landing hard on his back. "Oh my god! George!" I cried out as I knelt down beside him.

I placed a hand on the back of his shoulder and helped him into a seated position which caused more groans to fall from his mouth as he leaned back onto his hands. "I'm so sorry," I apologised but he waved it off; "My fault. I should have spoken first."

I shook my head and remarked back; "I probably would have broken your nose if you did."

My remark caused us both to laugh as we remained seated on the floor. I noticed his eyes were locked on one of the many runes I had and that were exposed as I was only wearing a purple sports bra that showcased my cleavage which George was trying not to stare at and matching compression tights.

He shifted his weight onto one of his hands and used his free hand to lightly grab onto my right bicep. I could feel his thumb tracing the rune that was underneath his thumb then asked me; "What does this one mean?"

"It's my healing rune. Comes in handing sometimes," I answered his question as I placed my hand over his.

Our eyes remained locked on each other's until his eyes moved away to notice my bracelet lying beside my open bag. He removed his hand from under mine and pointed towards the bracelet. "Is that just a fashion accessory or just a disguise for a deadly weapon?" he dramatically asked me causing me to roll my eyes and chuckle lightly under my breath.

I jumped back onto my feet and walked over to it before sliding it onto my right wrist. My actions caused George to scramble to his feet as he looked at me in fright. My lips turned into a smirk as I felt my bracelet came alive and slid off my wrist, transforming into a whip. His eyes widened as he stared at the whip before he watched my arm move forward to wrap the whip around his wrist. I pulled with all my strength which caused him to stumble over to me. He stopped just in front of me and my smirk grew when I noticed his eyes trying not to stare down my top but he couldn't really avoid it as he had to look down at me to see my face. Curse being over a foot shorter than him.

Feeling very bold, I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down to my height while I raised onto my toes. But my confidence and smirk disappeared when his hands grabbed onto mine and pull them away from him. "What?" I said as my brows frown in confusion when I saw his expression soften to almost look at me in sympathy.

George didn't respond but his expression said everything. I ripped my hands away from him and stormed away from him. "Emilia," I could hear him calling out to me but I ignore him.

Blame my stubbornness but I was hurt. I just thought...it doesn't matter now because I guess I misinterpreted how he felt towards me.

I continued ignoring him as I tightened my black straps around my wrist. I began bouncing on the ball of my feet and used my frustration in my hits which caused the bag to fly around. My punches got stronger but it allowed me to ignore George whose eyes I could feel staring at me. I guess he finally got frustrated with me as I felt his hand tightly grip my bicep to stop my punching. "Em, please just listen to me," he almost begged me which just caused me to roll my dark eyes at him.

"Don't worry. I got the message," I faked a smile towards him before ripping my arm out of his grip.

I loosened the straps around my wrist and grabbed my wand that was hidden inside a pocket of my tights and with a wave, the equipment I was using disappeared. Once I had removed my straps, I threw them into my open bag before grabbing my black hoddie from inside it and threw it on to cover up my exposed cleavage and stomach. I zipped up my bag and threw it over my shoulder before exiting the room, not realising that George was following me until he jumped in front of me which halted me from walking.

"Emilia, please just listen to me," I felt his hands lightly grip my upper arms as he spoke to me.

My frustration towards him had faded when we locked eyes and I smiled towards him. "Don't worry. I'm just not the same Emilia that you remember," I explained to him before raising onto my toes and lightly pecking his cheek.

I didn't give him time to respond as I walked away with my hips swinging from side to side and I could feel him watching me walk away.

What I said to him was true; I wasn't the same Emilia anymore. But I didn't think it's a bad thing.


	6. Disloyalty

**EMILIA**

* * *

 **AS THE** Hogwarts' grounds grew colder as a sign of winter approaching, I began to notice Harry's distance from the others. He pushed himself further away from the others as the Ministry kept spending lies about Voldemort being alive and saying both Harry and Dumbledore were loons, which made the other students turn against them.

Even after Harry and I's disagreement, I remained by his side as I noticed his distance towards everyone else. We never spoke but we never needed to.

Today, Harry and I were walking through the forest when we noticed Luna who was barefooted and was petting the winged creatures that pulled the carriages towards the castle.

"Hello, Harry Potter. Emilia Black," Luna's airy voice called out as we walked over to her.

"Your feet. Aren't they cold?" Harry asked, looking down at her bare feet as the cold wind began to pick up making it even colder.

"A bit. Unfortunately, all my shoes have mysteriously disappeared. I suspect the Nargles are behind it," Luna answered making me roll my eyes.

They hadn't mysteriously disappeared. Her fellow Ravenclaws had hidden them from her.

I felt something nip at the back of my sweater causing me to spin away to see one of the baby creatures was asking for my attention. I smiled at the creature before holding out my hand to pet it which it instantly pushed further into my hand. I knelt down which made it begin to lick my cheek. "What are they?" I asked Luna after the mother of the baby creatures called for her children.

"They're called Thestrals. They're quite gentle, really, but people avoid them because they're a bit..." Luna trailed off making Harry finished her sentence; "Different."

"But why can't the others see them?" Harry asked which I replied after hearing the creatures' name; "They can only be seen by people who've seen death."

The three of us began to walk over to the group of Thestrals. "So, you've known someone who's died, then?" Harry asked the young Ravenclaw girl who nodded.

"My mum. She was quite an extraordinary witch but she did like to experiment...and one day, one of her spells went badly wrong. I was 9," Luna answered sadly making me place a hand on her shoulder before saying; "I'm sorry."

"Yes, it was rather horrible. I do feel very sad about it sometimes, but I've got Dad," Luna then turned to Harry and said; "We both believe you, by the way. That He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back, and you fought him... and the Ministry and the Prophet are conspiring against you."

"Thanks. It seems you're about the only ones that do," Harry said as we look towards the Thestrals which Luna threw an apple towards the baby creature whom didn't seem interested in it.

"I don't think that's true. But I suppose that's how he wants you to feel. What do you mean? Well, if I were You-Know-Who...I'd want you to feel cut off from everyone else...because if it's just you alone...you're not as much of a threat," Luna explained causing me to raise a brow at how true her statement seemed to be.

The three of us watched as Lunn pulled out a piece of meat from her bag and threw it at the baby Thestral who happily ate away. I waved goodbye to Luna as I walked back to the castle while Harry stayed.

Once I had entered the Great Hall, I sat down beside Hermione who was staring at Ron eating in disgust. "Do you ever stop eating?" she questioned him which made him stare at her in disbelief.

"What? I'm hungry," he responded and Hermione rolled her eyes.

Ron's eyes moved away from her to something behind me before exclaiming; "Harry."

This made Hermione and I turned around to see Harry standing awkwardly behind us. "Can I join you?" he asked us which made Hermione give me a small smile and opened her mouth to speak but was stopped by yelling coming from outside the Great Hall.

"Pardon me, professor, but what exactly are you insinuating?"

The owner of the yelling belonged to Umbridge and her yelling caused everyone to exit the Great Hall to see her and McGonagall having a standoff by the stairs.

"I am merely requesting that when it comes to my students... you conform to the prescribed disciplinary practices," McGonagall remarked making me realize what they were arguing about.

The Black Quills Umbridge used for punishment.

"So silly of me, but it sounds... as if you're questioning my authority in my own classroom... Minerva," Umbridge argued back as she stepped up onto the higher step.

"Not at all, Dolores, merely your medieval methods," McGonagall copied Umbridge's action as she stepped up onto the same steps that Umbridge was on.

"I am sorry, dear. But to question my practices is to question the Ministry...and by extension, the minister himself. I am a tolerant woman...but the one thing I will not stand for is disloyalty," Umbridge's words caused McGonagall to stared at her in disbelief.

"Disloyalty," she gasped as she stepped down.

Umbridge then noticed she had an audience as she then turned to us and spoke; "Things at Hogwarts are far worse than I feared. Cornelius will want to take immediate action."

As I went to step forward, I was stopped by a hand gripping my upper arm. "Don't."

I whipped my head around to see George was the one holding me back. My eyes rolled as my head whipped back around to glare at Umbridge. "I hate that toad," I growled as I felt George's hand release my arm to wrap his arm around my shoulders.

My arms crossed over my chest as I flipped my hair over my left shoulder which allowed Umbridge, whose eyes were glaring back at me, to view the blackened skin that was present on the right side of my neck. By the time I noticed it and moved my hair to cover my rune up again, she already knew what I was as a sickly sweet smile grew on her face.

Shit!


	7. Together

**EMILIA**

* * *

 **AFTER** Umbridge's outburst, she was appointed High Inquisitor by Fudge and since then, she had appeared in classes and asked the professors questions which made me want to punch her in the face. Especially after what she did to Professor Trelawney.

I was sitting in the Great Hall when I noticed everyone was rushing towards the Entrance Courtyard which made me stared at them with a raised brow. My hand reached down to grab my bag and I quickly made my way to follow everyone else. When my eyes looked over to see a familiar red-head, my hand reached out to grab them by their arm as I walked beside them. "George, what's going on?" I asked him as my grip stopped him in his tracks.

He didn't answer as he moved my hand to grab it and began to pull me with him as he pushed through the crowd. When the crowd finally parted enough for me to see, I saw Professor Trelawney standing in the middle of the courtyard with Umbridge walking smugly towards her as Filch was placing Trelawney's bags in front of her feet. All the students were silent as they watched the older woman began to walk forward but hit her legs on one of her bags, causing her to stop. She slowly stepped around it to stand in front of Umbridge.

I launched forward to help her but was stopped by an arm wrapping my waist; forcing me to stay in place. I continued to struggle against the arm that I knew belonged to George as we watched Trelawney. "Sixteen years I've lived and taught here. Hogwarts is my home. You can't do this," she begged to the evil toad-faced woman and I felt my heart break as I saw tears begin to stream down her face.

"Actually, I can," Umbridge said smugly as she held up a folded piece of parchment.

This caused Trelawney to begin sobbing and I felt someone brush past me which made my head turn to see McGonagall rushing up to comfort the crying woman. McGonagall pulled her into a hug as non-coherent words fell from her mouth.

"Something you'd like to say?" Umbridge's fake innocent tone caused more anger to ran through McGonagall's veins.

"Oh, there are several things I would like to say," she snapped at the pink toad before continuing to comfort Trelawney.

Suddenly, the Entrance Hall's doors opened which caused everyone's head to turn to see Dumbledore who walked forward until he now stood in front of Umbridge. "Professor McGonagall, might I ask you to escort Sybill back inside?" With the Headmaster's words, McGonagall began to escort Trelawney back inside the castle.

As they passed Dumbledore, I heard Trelawney thanking him as she gripped his hand tightly before being led away. "Dumbledore, may I remind you that under the terms... of Educational Decree Number 23 as enacted by the Minister..." The toad's shrill voice was interrupted by Dumbledore; "You have the right to dismiss my teachers. You do not, however, have the authority to banish them from the grounds. That power remains with the headmaster."

"For now," Umbridge remarked smugly which made me led forward again but George tightened his grip on my waist.

Dumbledore remained silent as he turned around to walk back to the doors. "Don't you all have studying to do?" his rhetorical question which caused noise to now fill the air.

Gripping George's wrist tightly, I removed his hand from my waist before I kicked his leg out from underneath from which sent him tumbling to the ground. He groaned loudly in pain as the others around us wince or chuckle at his pain. My dark eyes locked with his dark ones as I glared down at him before storming away with Hermione rushing up beside me.

* * *

I sat on the one-seater in the Gryffindor Common Room with Ron was sitting on the couch and Harry was sitting in the chair by the radio. Hermione, however, was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace. "That foul, evil, old gargoyle. We're not learning how to defend ourselves. We're not learning how to pass our OWLs. She's taking over the entire school," Hermione continued ranting to us until the voice on the radio caused our attention to turn towards it as Harry turned up the volume.

"Security has been and will remain the Ministry's top priority. Furthermore, we have convincing evidence... that these disappearances are the work... of notorious mass murderer Sirius Black," I rolled my eyes at Fudge's claims.

"Harry. Emilia," suddenly Dad's voice called out causing our heads to turn towards the fireplace where Dad's face visible in the flames

"Dad. What are you doing here?" I asked him as I knelt down in front of the fire with Hermione and Harry on either side of me while Ron remained on the couch.

"Answering your letters. You said you were worried about Umbridge. What's she doing? Training you to kill half-breeds?" Dad remarked sarcastically which made Harry snap back; "Sirius, she's not letting us use magic at all."

"Well, I'm not surprised. The latest intelligence is that Fudge doesn't want you trained in combat," Dad stated which caused my brows to frown in confusion.

Not trained in combat? Well, I guess that was too late for me.

"Combat? What does he think, we're forming some sort of wizard army?" Ron voiced all of our confusions towards Dad.

"That's exactly what he thinks. That Dumbledore is assembling his own forces to take on the Ministry. He's becoming more paranoid by the minute. The others wouldn't want me telling you this, Harry... but things aren't going at all well with the Order. Fudge is blocking the truth at every turn... and these disappearances are just how it started before. Voldemort is on the move," Dad informed us

"Well, what can we do?" Harry asked Dad and when Dad opened his mouth to respond, the sounds of footstep stopped him.

"Someone's coming. I'm sorry I can't be of more help. But for now, at least, it looks like you're on your own," was Dad's last words before he faded from the fire.

We all stood onto our feet and looked out the window where a storm was raging on. Lightning flashed light onto our faces as we were watching the world outside.

"He really is out there, isn't he?" Hermione asked but no one answered her before she continued talking; "We've got to be able to defend ourselves. And if Umbridge refuses to teach us how, we need someone who will."

With her last words, she turned around to lock eyes with Harry who stared at her like she was crazy. She was right though. We had to defend ourselves and Harry was the only one was enough knowledge to teach us...well them because I could protect myself perfectly fine. One of the many benefits of being a Nephilim.


	8. Dumbledore's Army

**EMILIA**

* * *

" **THIS** is mad. Who'd wanna be taught by me? I'm a nutter, remember?" Harry remarked as we walked away from the main part of Hogsmeade and towards a slightly dodgy tavern.

Snow stuck to our shoes as we walked while our thick coats kept us warm. I raised an eyebrow at the spot Hermione choose before nodding once I understood why she picked this place. It was the perfect place without drawing any unwanted attention to ourselves.

"Look on the bright side: you can't be any worse than old toad face," Ron stated which caused my eyes to roll.

"Thanks, Ron," Harry remarked sarcastically which made Ron remark back; "I'm here for you, mate."

"Who's supposed to be meeting us, then?" Harry asked Hermione who was leading us to Hog's Head.

"Just a couple of people," she answered as she opened the door to reveal a small, run-down pub.

"Lovely spot," Ron stated sarcastically as he looked around the pub with disgust.

"Thought it would be safer off the beaten track," Hermione admitted which I agreed.

We were least likely to encounter anyone loyal to Umbridge here than anywhere close to the main part of Hogsmeade.

It turned out that Hermione invited more than a couple people as over 10 people were now seated in front of the four of us. I was leaning against the brick wall behind the other three, who were seated, with my arms crossed over my chest.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Hermione stood up and began to speak with an awkward tone; "Hi. So, you all know why we're here. We need a teacher. A proper teacher. One who's had experience defending themselves against the Dark Arts."

"Why?" a boy, I didn't really care what his name was, asked with an irritated expression.

"Why? Because You-Know-Who's back, you tosspot," Ron snapped back which made the boy snap back; "So he says."

"So Dumbledore says," Hermione retorted back as Harry and I stay silent.

"So Dumbledore says because he says. The point is, where's the proof?" the boy asked and I was so close to actually punch him.

Proof? So, the disappearances weren't enough evidence of Voldemort being back? Idiots, honestly.

"If Potter could tell us more about how Diggory got killed..." Michael, Ginny's boyfriend, said which caused the air to become thick with tension.

His words caused Harry to stand up and snap; "I'm not gonna talk about Cedric, so if that's why you're here, clear out now."

"Come on, Hermione. They're here because they think I'm some sort of freak," he whispered to Hermione and went to leave but Hermione tried to stop him.

"Is it true you can produce a Patronus Charm?" Luna's voice rang through the room as my lips to turn up into a smile.

Luna's question caused everyone to look at Harry for confirmation which caused me to speak for the first time; "Yes. I've seen it."

My words caused shock to fall on everyone's faces. "Blimey, Harry. I didn't know you could do that," Dean stated, staring at Harry in disbelief.

"And he killed a basilisk, with the sword in Dumbledore's office," Neville informed everyone with Ginny confirming it; "It's true."

"Third year, he fought off about a hundred Dementors at once," Ron explained and there was a moment of silence before Hermione spoke; "Last year, he really did fight off You-Know-Who in the flesh."

"Wait. Look, it all sounds great when you say it like that... but the truth is, most of that was just luck. I didn't know what I was doing half the time. I nearly always had help," Harry explained as he looked over his shoulder at me as he remembered the times I had helped him over the years.

"He's just being modest," Hermione said as she didn't believe what Harry was saying; even though she had also helped Harry over the years as well.

"No, Hermione, I'm not. Facing this stuff in real life is not like school. In school, if you make a mistake, you can just try again tomorrow. But out there... when you're a second away from being murdered... or watching a friend die right before your eyes... You don't know what that's like," Harry's words made everyone realise that the danger he...we have been through the past five years was real and most of the time, we were lucky to be alive.

He sat back down on his chair and I placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing tightly.

"You're right, Harry, we don't. That's why we need your help. Because if we're going to have any chance at beating..." Hermione, now seated, paused for a moment before continuing; "Voldemort."

"He's really back," Nigel, a young Gryffindor, spoke as he broke the silence that fell over us after Hermione spoke.

"What should we call it?" Hermione asked as she was now seated at table and was holding a quill in her hand.

A smirk grew on my face as I spoke; "How about Dumbledore's Army?"

Everyone looked at me in shock for suggesting it which just caused my shoulders to shrug. "It's what Fudge fears. Might as well make it a reality," I explained and watched as Hermione wrote it on the top of a piece of parchment.

Hermione signed her name first and I signed mine under hers before handing the quill to Ron. Everyone lined up to signed their names and now we just need to place to practice.

"Right. First, we need to find a place to practice where Umbridge won't find out," Harry said as we were now walking along the covered bridge towards the Clock Tower.

"The Shrieking Shack," Ginny suggested which caused my head to shake.

"It's too small," I told her; thinking about the training room given to me by Dumbledore but I went against suggesting it as I would have to explain why I had a training room to those that didn't know that I was a Protector.

"Forbidden Forest?" Hermione suggested which made Ron remark; "Not bloody likely."

"Harry, what happens if Umbridge does find out?" Ginny asked and when Harry went to answer, he was cut off by Hermione; "Who cares?"

Everyone looked at her in shock as she was...well a teacher's pet. "I mean, it's sort of exciting, isn't it, breaking the rules?" Hermione asked when she noticed everyone's shocked faces.

"Who are you and what have you done with Hermione?" Ron asked sarcastically which everyone to smile brightly.

"Anyway, at least we know one positive thing that came from today," I stated which made Harry stare at me in confusion.

"What's that?" Harry asked me which caused me to roll my eyes.

"Cho couldn't take her eyes off you, could she?" I asked him; winking at him.

Harry's face broke into a bright grin as I walked ahead of them with Hermione by my side.

"Right. Over the next few days, we should each come up... with a couple of possibilities of places we can practice. We've got to make sure, wherever it is, there's no chance she can find us," as Harry spoke, I could feel someone staring at us which caused my head to whip up to see the pink toad looking down at us...and she could hear everything Harry was saying.

The next day, she had put in place a rule that all student organisations were disbanded and anyone who didn't follow that rule, would be expelled.

God, I hate that toad.


	9. The DA Meetings

**EMILIA**

* * *

 **I** **WAS** seated beside Hermione in the common room when Neville came running in. "I found a place," he spoke so fast that I almost didn't understand what he had said.

My brow raised in confusion as I looked towards the others. I shrugged my shoulders at them before following Neville where he led us to the seventh floor. He stopped in front of a wall and suddenly, a door appeared. We entered the room which the walls were like mirrors, a fireplace and a giant chandelier was in the middle of the room. "You've done it, Neville. You found the Room of Requirement," Hermione exclaimed when she figured out the room he had found.

"The what?" Ron asked which Hermione answered; "It's also known as the Come and Go Room. The Room of Requirement only appears when a person has real need of it. And it's always equipped for the seeker's needs."

"So, say you really needed the toilet," Ron suggested which made me shake my head.

"Charming, Ron," I scoffed at him as I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, that is the general idea," Hermione answered; also shaking her head at Ron's suggestion.

"It's brilliant. It's like Hogwarts wants us to fight back," Harry beamed as he looked around the room.

* * *

The next night, we all met up in the Room of Requirement for our first meeting. We were all lined up in front of the dummy which was made up to look like a Deatheater. I stood behind Harry who was stood beside Neville. As the dummy raised its wand, Neville didn't move and he looked towards Harry who signalled for him to go. "Expelliarmus," when Neville speak the spell, his wand flew out of his hand.

Everyone quickly ducked to escape from being hit in the face by Neville's wand which hit the wall behind us. "I'm hopeless," Neville sighed with his shoulders slumped in defeat.

I placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

"You're just flourishing your wand too much. Try it like this. Expelliarmus," Harry flicked his wand with a quick little motion of his wrist and the dummy was disarmed.

* * *

In our next defence lesson and like every other lesson, we weren't using magic but instead, copying the toad's notes. "You will please copy the approved text four times... to ensure maximum retention. There will be no need to talk," Umbridge stated as she walked down the aisles of the class.

"No need to think is more like it," Hermione remarked under her breath from her spot beside me.

I chuckled softly as I kept my head down. "Wands away," Umbridge ordered which made me turn around to see Neville who was the one with his wand out.

I shook my head at him before returning back to copying the text.

* * *

The second DA meeting was scheduled, and this meeting was about stunning. "Stunning is one of the most useful spells in your arsenal. It's a wizard's bread and butter, really. So, come on, then, Nigel. Give it your best shot," Harry spoke as he stood on one side of the room while Nigel stood on the other side.

We were all in lines on either side of the room and we leaned towards the middle to see Nigel and Harry. Nigel took a deep breath and held out his wand before shouting; "Stupefy!"

His spell hit Harry which sent him flying off his feet but however, Nigel wasn't stable on his own feet as the force of the spell caused him to also fly off his feet. I winced at the sound of Harry and Nigel hitting the ground. "Good. Not bad at all, Nigel. Well done," Harry said as he slowly got back onto his feet.

I looked over at Nigel to see him seeing at his wand in shock. Hermione and Ron were up next, and I heard Ron say to Hermione; "Don't worry. I'll go easy on you."

I laughed because Hermione didn't need him to go easy. "Thanks, Ronald," Hermione said back, and I could hear a tone of disbelief when she spoke.

"Come on, Ron," the boys began to cheer Ron on which caused my eyes to roll.

They stood across from each other and Ron gave a smug nod to those who cheered him on. I looked towards Hermione and when we made eye contact, I gave her a nod and wink. As Ron took a breath, Hermione reacted faster than he could blink; "Stupefy."

The force of her spell sent him flying to the floor with a yell as a smirk formed on my face. _Lesson learned...don't underestimate Hermione Granger_. As the girls surrounded Hermione to laugh at Ron, I looked across at the boys to see George hand Fred a sickle which made me shake my head. Ron walked over to them; completely embarrassed as I heard him say; "I let her do that. It's good manners, isn't it? It was completely intentional."

I rolled my eyes as I walked up to George and whispered in his ear; "Next time, bet against Ron."

* * *

The next day, Umbridge had put up another Educational Decree stating that all students must submit to questioning about 'suspected illicit activities'. So far, no one had caved and given up any information, but I had a feeling that the toad was going to find a way to break someone.

* * *

Harry had us practising disarming each other in the next DA meeting. I was paired up with George who so far, hadn't disarmed me due to my fast reflexes. I could see he was getting annoyed by my reflexes that I decided to let him disarm me. "Expelliarmus," he flicked his wrist and my wand flew out of my hand.

I smiled at him, but he didn't smile back as he spoke; "You let me do that."

I shook my head at him as a smirk grew on my face. "So, what if I did?" I asked cheekily, grabbing my wand from the floor.

Before George could react, I pointed my wand towards him; flicked my wrist and spoke; "Expelliarmus."

The force of my spell caused his wand to fly out of his hand and towards me which I quickly grabbed. I twirled his wand between my fingers as I heard him sigh in defeat. When I noticed George's look of defeat, I waltzed over to him and placed his wand back into his hand. "Hopefully next time you try to disarm someone, they don't have supernatural reflexes," I informed him as a cheeky smirk formed on my face.

I quickly raised onto my toe and gave his cheek a peck before strutting over to where Hermione was practising levitating someone. Ginny was looking over her shoulder from her spot beside Hermione and saw the interaction between George and myself so when I stood beside her, she lightly bumped my shoulders with hers and wiggled her eyebrows at me. I shook my head at her actions before returning back to watching Hermione.

* * *

As Umbridge had employed Filch to catch us, Fred and George pranked him with their fake sweets and at first, we thought she gave up. However, she then created the Inquisitorial Squad whose ultimate goal was to catch us in the act. The squad consisted of only Slytherins as they were the only house not involved in DA. We, however, were a lot smarter than them and we were easily able to escape being caught. In the next meeting, I was paired up with Hermione and we were practising stunning. Harry walked around; correcting stances and wand height as he spoke; "Working hard is important, but there's something that matters even more: Believing in yourself. Every great wizard in history has started out... as nothing more than what we are now: students. If they can do it, why not us?"

* * *

Now, it was the last meeting before Christmas, and we were practice disarming again. The Room of Requirement had decorated itself by putting up a Christmas tree with some lights and mistletoes were strung around the room. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Harry was giving Cho an encouraging smile which caused a blush to form on her cheeks. I shook my head at them before returning back to look up Neville who was standing beside me. I gave him a reassuring smile as he pointed his wand towards Padma who he was practising with. He took a deep breath before exclaiming; "Expelliarmus."

Her wand flew out of her hand which caused everyone to grow silent and look at Neville in shock. Neville froze in shock that he actually disarmed someone on the first try and soon, everyone began clapping. "Fantastic, Neville," I cheered as I pulled him into a hug.

I hugged him for a few moments before releasing him to allow everyone else to congratulate him. After everyone had finishing congratulating Neville, Harry had wrapped up the meeting; "So that's it for this lesson. Now, we' re not gonna be meeting again until after the holidays."

His words caused everyone to groan but Harry continuing talking over the noise; "So just keep practising on your own as best you can. And well done, everyone. Great, great work."

Everyone began clapping for Harry which caused a bright smile to form on his face. "Well done, Harry," I whispered into his ear as I continued clapping along with everyone else.

"Thanks, Em," he responded back with his bright smile still present on his face.

We watched as Harry's eyes watching Cho who separated from everyone else to grab her stuff and was looking at the mirror that we had put newspaper clippings and the original Order of the Phoenix photo on. I made eye contact with Hermione and Ron and we gave each other a look as we could see how obvious Harry and Cho were about their feelings for each other. "See you in the Common Room, Harry," I informed him as we slowly backed away from him.

He didn't respond as he slowly made his way over to Cho.

* * *

We were sitting on the couch when Harry returned to the common room that evening. As he sat down on the floor in front of the fireplace and across from us on the couch, I could see how dazed he was which led me to believe that he and Cho had kissed. "Well, how was it?" Ron asked after a few moments of silence between us once Harry had informed of what had happened between him and Cho.

"Wet. I mean, she was sort of crying," Harry answered which made Ron snicker; "That bad at it, are you?"

"I'm sure Harry's kissing was more than satisfactory," Hermione dismissed which caused Ron to snicker even more.

"Cho spends half her time crying these days," I explained as I felt sorry for Cho.

"You'd think a bit of snogging would cheer her up," Ron responded cheekily which made me slap his shoulder, hard.

"Don't you understand how she must be feeling?" Hermione asked, being serious, unlike our ginger friend who was now rubbing his 'wounded' shoulder.

We didn't answer her, so she explained; "Well, obviously she's feeling sad about Cedric and confused about liking Harry and guilty about kissing him. Conflicted because Umbridge might sack her mum from the Ministry and frightened of failing her OWLs because she's worrying about everything."

"One person couldn't feel all that. They'd explode," Ron remarked which made Hermione sass back; "Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon."

Hermione's words lingered for a few moments as we all glanced at each other before we couldn't help but burst into laughter. Hermione and I were leaning on each other to give each other support as we laughed. I haven't laughed this hard since my mother passed...and god it felt so good.


	10. Jealously

**EMILIA**

* * *

 **THAT** night I was woken up by Ginny shaking me awake. I had to stop myself from reaching for the dagger underneath my pillow as I noticed she had tears streaming down her face and her eyes were rimmed red. This made me jump out of bed and quickly pull her into a hug. "Ginny, what's wrong?" I asked her as I felt the shoulder of my shirt became wet from her tears.

"It's...my dad," she gasped through her sobs as I felt her shoulders shaking from her sobbing.

I tightened my arms around her before moving my arm to wrap around her shoulders and pull her into my side. I quickly threw on my black dressing gown over my pyjamas before I slowly guided us out of my room to make sure that we didn't wake up the other girls that were asleep in my dormitory. We made our way down the stairs to the common room where I saw McGonagall wrapped up in a dressing gown with Fred and George standing beside her. Without a word, McGonagall signalled us to follow her to Dumbledore's office where Harry and Ron were. As we entered the room, we saw Dumbledore was pacing back and forth in front of his desk. I guided Ginny to sit down on one of the armchairs while her brothers stood behind it. Harry remained in the middle of the room with McGonagall standing behind me as Dumbledore now stood still with his back towards Harry.

"In the dream, were you standing next to the victim or looking down at the scene?" Dumbledore asked Harry which his question caused my eyebrow to frown in confusion.

 _What is going on?_ I thought to myself as I stood up from my spot kneeling down beside the chair Ginny was in.

"Neither. It was like I..." Harry started to answer before asking Dumbledore, completely confused and terrifying; "Will you please just tell me what's happening?"

Dumbledore completely ignored Harry as he walked over to the portrait of an older man and said; "Everard, Arthur's on guard duty tonight. Make sure he's found by the right people."

"Sir," Harry began but again was interrupted by Dumbledore turning to another portrait and saying: "Phineas. You must go to your portrait at Grimmauld Place. Tell them that Arthur Weasley is gravely injured... and his children will be arriving there soon by Portkey."

I placed my hand on Ginny's shoulder and I gripped it tightly as I finally realised what happened as Dumbledore quickly turned to me. "Emilia, send a message to the Protectors to see what they know about this attack," he ordered me which I quickly nodded before rushing over to his desk to grab a piece of parchment and a quill.

As I quickly wrote out the message, I heard the voice of one of the portraits speak; "They've got him, Albus. It was close, but they think he'll make it. What's more, the Dark Lord failed to acquire it."

"Oh, thank goodness. Next, we need to..." Dumbledore was interrupted by Harry suddenly yelling; "Look at me!" which caused him to suddenly look at the frightened teenager in shock.

"What's happening to me?" Harry asked the headmaster after a few moments of silence; terrified of what was going on.

"You wished to see me, Headmaster?" the voice of Snape rang out as he entered the room.

"Oh, Severus. I'm afraid we can't wait. Not even till the morning. Otherwise, we'll all be vulnerable," Dumbledore informed Snape who grabbed Harry by his wrist and dragging him out of the room.

Grabbing my stele which was shoved into the waistband of my pyjama bottoms, I quickly draw the fire message rune and suddenly the piece of parchment burst into flames. It disappeared and I turned to Dumbledore and gave him a nod, signalling to him that the message was sent.

Dumbledore brought the portkey, which was an old book, towards us and signalled us to touch it. Suddenly, we were transported to Grimmauld Place where Mrs Weasley and Dad was waiting for us. Mrs Weasley had tears streaming down her face as she pulled her children into a large hug. Dad wrapped an arm around my shoulders as we watched the Weasleys hug each other.

They were pulled apart when the sound of the front door opening and shutting rang throughout the silent house. From Dad's face turning serious signalling to myself that he didn't know who had entered the house, I pushed the Weasleys to stand behind me as I felt my bracelet came alive and slide off my wrist to form into a whip.

Dad pointed his wand out as my eyes widened in shock when a familiar blonde-haired male that had black runes marked over his pale skin entered the room we were in. "Jonathan," I gasped in shock as he stared at my whip with a 'really' face.

My whip crawled back onto my wrist as I walked over to Jonathan who pulled me into a hug. "I got your message," he informed me as we separated from our hug.

I turned back to the Weasleys and Dad to see them staring at Jonathan in confusion who gave them a charming smile. My eyes landed on George who seemed to be glaring at Jonathan which made my eyebrow raise in confusion.

"This is Jonathan Verlac. He is the head of the London Institute," I informed them as I signalled to Dad to put his wand away.

Jonathan continued to give them his charming smile as I felt his hand being placed on the small of my back as we went into the living room. As I walked with Jonathan, I could feel eyes glaring at us. "So, what have you heard?" I asked him as we sat down on the couch together.

Jonathan let out a loud sigh before saying; "I went to St Mungo's. He is going to make it."

His words caused Mrs Weasley to breathe a sigh of relief while more tears streamed down her face. "For now, we don't know much besides that Voldemort failed to obtain it," Jonathan explained and while the Weasley children stared at him in confusion, Mrs Weasley, Dad and myself knew what Jonathan was referring to.

I placed my hand in his shoulder and smiled at him. "Thank you, Jonathan," I said to him with a smile before we stood up from the couch and I showed him to the door.

Once we were at the front door, he stared down at me with a serious expression. "Be careful Emilia," was all he said before placing a kiss on my cheek and exiting Grimmauld Place with me standing by the door with my brows frowned in confusion.

I remained standing by the front door for a few moments until a voice spoke, causing me to jump slightly; "Well, isn't he charming?"

I turned around to see George leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. It was unusual seeing George was a serious face as he was always smiling. I rolled my eyes at his obvious jealousy, but a smile remained on my face. "There's no need to be jealous. He is more a brother to me than a boyfriend," I informed him, placing a hand on his shoulder to help pull myself closer to his face to kiss his cheek.

A cheeky grin formed on my face before I walked away. However, I didn't get very far as I felt his hand lightly grip my bicep to turn me back towards him. What happened next kind of surprised as his lips suddenly met mine. At first, I froze in shock before my hands moved to grip his shirt to pull him closer as I kissed back.

I felt his hand gripped the back of my neck with his fingers lightly gripping my hair. After all the teasing and flirting that happened between us, having this moment felt like complete bliss. I didn't know how long we were kissing for but when I remembered what had occurred tonight, I pulled away. Both of us were breathing heavily for lack of air as George rested his forehead against mine. "You've been through a lot tonight. You're not thinking straight," I explained to him as I pulled away, trying to see the reason why he would suddenly kiss me.

"But..." he began but I held my hand up, stopping him from talking.

"If you still feeling the same way tonight as you do on Christmas Day, you know what to do," was all I said before walking away.

Once I had entered my bedroom and closed the door tightly behind, I placed a hand over my mouth to try and contain my sobs. I placed my back on the door and slid down to the floor, pulling my knees to my chest as I began to sob into them. My heart felt like it was ripped out of my chest but I had already dug my grave.


	11. Christmas

**EMILIA**

* * *

 **IT** was now Christmas and I hadn't spoken a single word to George since that night. Every time we were in a room together, the air would turn awkward and would make me so uncomfortable that I would have to leave. However, I ignored that today for the sake of being Christmas and Mr Weasley finally returning from St Mungo's. I was standing between Ron and Ginny with George directing across from me. We were all standing up, waiting for Mr Weasley to join us at the table and when he did, I felt a pain in my heart from the cuts and bruises visible on him.

"Here we go. Daddy's back," Mrs Weasley announced with her giant smile on her face.

We all began to clap loudly before Mrs Weasley told us to sit down. "Now, presents," Mrs Weasley exclaimed with joy as she began to hand out the presents. While the others' presents were wrapped in brightly coloured paper, mine was wrapped in black and tied with a red ribbon which caused me to grin brightly at Mrs Weasley. "Come on, open up. I want to see your faces," she almost squealed with excitement.

I slowly began untying the ribbon and pulling apart the paper to reveal a pair of knitted black fingerless gloves which I slip on straight away. Glasses were now being passed out and when everyone was now standing and held a glass that was filled with a liquid that I did not know, Mr Weasley called out; "A Christmas toast. To Mr Harry Potter...without whom I would not be here. Harry."

"Harry," we raised our glasses to him and took a drink.

"Harry," Dad's voice called out causing Harry to snap his head around to look at Dad who was leaning against the door frame.

When everyone sat down again, I followed Mrs Weasley's actions as I passed everyone's presents to them which were wrapped in black paper. I watched as Ginny ripped off the wrapping paper to reveal to silver necklace while Hermione pulled out a silver bracelet. While I had given the girls jewellery, I had gifted the boys silver cuffs which had runes engraved into the metal. I smiled at their confused faces and chuckled lightly when I noticed Ron lightly touch one of the runes and quickly pull his finger back as if it shocked him. "Emilia, are these..." knowing what Hermione's question was, I nodded and reached up to pull out one of my hair sticks which were holding half of my hair up in a bun.

I touched the point of the stick to my upper arm and flicked it forward, causing it to transform into a small knife. Everyone's eyes widen in shock as I explained; "Yours are designed to work for those without Angelic blood."

"Do all Protectors hide weapons through jewellery?" Ginny asked me, staring at her necklace and wondering how it turned into a weapon.

"Not all of us. Most Protectors have their weapons in plain sight but hiding them as jewellery is easier to bring them into the mundane and wizardry world without drawing any unwanted attention," I informed them, flicking my wrist again to transform the knife back into a hair stick and placing it back into my bun.

As everyone began to stare at their gifts, I began to explain what they were and how to transform them. "Hermione, your bracelet is similar to mine except yours forms into a dagger instead of a whip. Just unclasp it off and flick your wrist." I watched as Hermione looked at me with unsure eyes before she flicked her wrist, causing the bracelet to straighten out to form a dagger with black runes engraved on the metal.

Everyone else followed Hermione's actions and soon, they all held identical daggers in their hands. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Mr and Mrs Weasley look frightened at the sight of the weapons which made me turn to them and reassure them; "Don't worry. I'll teach them how to use them."

My words caused their frighten faces to fade slightly but I knew they were more frightened about why I have given them weapons. I had heard rumours that some Protectors had joined Voldemort's side and it made me feel better if everyone had something other than their wands to protect themselves. Especially when many Protectors can use their magic against them.

I stood up from my seat with another present in my hands and walked over to Harry who still hadn't joined us at the table. I placed the present in his hands before saying; "Happy Christmas, Harry."

We gave each other a smile before pulling each other into a hug. Harry opened his present to reveal a ring which was silver with the letter 'L' in the centre and was decorated with flames. "It's the Lightwood family ring. My Mum's family. She wanted to give it to you for your 16thbirthday but...," I trailed off and Harry nodded his head, understanding what I was trying to say.

Before Mum passed, she had explained that she wanted to give Harry the Lightwood ring because he was family. Mum was the eldest in her family meaning the ring was passed down to her along with my necklace. I was supposed to receive both after my rune ceremony, but Mum had decided that when Harry turned 16, she would give him the ring as a symbol of being a part of our family.

We pulled each other into another hug before pulling away and I went to sit back down at the table. As I sat across from George, we gave each other a shy smile before I looked back down at my plate.

* * *

"I can't understand why you don't want to wear it, Ronald," Hermione said to Ron who was sulking about the sweater his mother had made him for Christmas.

Hermione and Ron walked down the stairs in front of Harry and I. "I look like a bloody idiot, that's why," Ron complained causing my eyes to roll.

"No more than usual, Ron," Hermione snarked back before continuing; "I don't know why you don't trust your mother's taste more."

I turned to talk to Harry but noticed he was no longer by my side. I turned back around to find him in the Black Family Tree room with Kreacher snarling to him; "Nasty brat, standing there as bold as brass. Harry Potter, the boy who stopped the Dark Lord. Friend of Mudbloods and blood-traitors alike. If my poor mistress only knew..."

Kreacher was cut off by Dad's voice; "Kreacher! That's enough of your bile. Away with you!"

"Of course, master. Kreacher lives to serve the noble house of Black," the house elf said before walking out of the room, groaning loudly.

I glared at him as he passed me which my glare caused him to scurry away from us quickly.

"Sorry about that. He never was very pleasant, even when I was a boy. Not to me, anyway," Dad informed Harry as he walked down the stairs to stand by my side in the doorway.

"What, you grew up here?" Harry asked as he looked around at the family tree.

"This is my parents' house. I offered it to Dumbledore as headquarters for the Order. About the only useful thing I've been able to do," Dad's words caused me to place a hand on his shoulder and give him a small smile.

Harry looked at the wallpaper in confusion which made Dad explain; "This is the Black family tree. My deranged cousin. I hated the lot of them. My parents with their pure-blood mania."

He walked over to a burnt piece of wallpaper that had 'Sirius' written underneath it. "My mother did that after I ran away. Charming woman. I was 16."

"Where did you go?" Harry inquired making Dad pause in hesitation.

"Your dad's. I was always welcome at the Potters'. I see him so much in you, Harry. You are so very much alike," Dad said with a gleam in his eye as he remembered his best friend

"I'm not so sure," Harry said which caused Dad's brow to frown in confusion.

"Sirius, when I was... When I saw Mr Weasley attacked, I wasn't just watching. I was the snake. And afterwards, in Dumbledore's office... there was a moment when I wanted to..." Harry cut himself off and sighed before continuing; "This connection between me and Voldemort. What if the reason for it is that I am becoming more like him? I just feel so angry all the time. And what if, after everything that I've been through... something's gone wrong inside me? What if I'm becoming bad?"

Dad grabbed onto Harry's shoulder as I grabbed his hand. "I want you to listen to me very carefully, Harry. You're not a bad person. You're a very good person who bad things have happened to. You understand?" Dad asked which made Harry nod.

"Besides, the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are," Dad said wisely as I rested my head on Harry's shoulder.

A knock on the door frame caused our head to whip around to see Hermione standing by the doorway. "Harry. Emilia, time to go," she informed us.

"When all this is over, we'll be a proper family. You'll see," Dad said as we walked towards the door.

He pulled us both into a hug before letting us go so we could make our way to Hogwarts.


	12. A Train Ride To Remember

**EMILIA**

* * *

 **MUCH** like the train ride to Hogwarts earlier in the school year, I was alone. Hermione and Ron had their prefect duties while Harry was spending time with Cho which left me alone, but I didn't mind. It gave me time with my thoughts.

No matter how I tried, my mind kept returning to the incident with George. He hadn't spoken to me since then and my hopes of him actually having feelings for me diminished. I felt stupid for feeling like this, but I couldn't help it.

I was twirling a small knife around my hand when the compartment door slid open making me quickly hid my knife in my bag that was placed beside me. My head whipped around to the door and my eyes widened in shock to see George stepping into the compartment before closing the door behind him. He sat down across from me and we remain in silence before I spoke; "Where are you here?"

My question caused him to sigh loudly and to run a hand through his hair. "I want to apologise for...well you know," he told me which caused me to scoff and roll my eyes.

"No, I don't know, Weasley. Why don't you tell me what you are apologising for?" I asked mockingly, crossing my arms over my chest.

George rolled his eyes at me before shaking his head and standing up. "I'm going to leave if you are going to act like this," as he went to open the door to leave, I quickly reached out to grab his arm.

"Don't," was all I said as I looked up at him with soft eyes.

He let out a loud sigh before walking away from the door to sit back down across from me. I ran a hand through my hair as I began to feel uncomfortable from George's intense stare. "You are upset with me," was all he said as he continued to stare at me.

I let out a loud sigh before bitting down on my bottom lip. "Yeah, I am, actually. I..." I cut myself off before letting out another loud sigh to regain my confidence.

"I like you, George. I have liked you since I was 13 so when you kissed me, I couldn't believe. At first, I thought that you also had feelings for me but then I remember you were emotional from your Dad's attack...so I guess that you kissing me because you were emotionally confused," I explained and when I finished, I began nibbling on my bottom lip.

I moved my eyes away from George to look down at the floor and I played with my hands to try and settle my nerves, but it wasn't working.

 _Confidence Emilia now is the time to show yourself_

What happened next shocked me as I felt George grab my chin to lift my head to look at him before leaning forward to press his lips against mine. I gasped in shock which allowed him to slip in his tongue inside my mouth. I reacted by wrapping my arms around his neck and falling into the kiss.

We remained kissing like this for a few moments until George moved to wrap his arms around my waist to pull me into his lap. I pulled away from the kiss and moved off his lap to pull the blinds over the door to give us some privacy. A smile formed on my face before I sat down beside George and turned to face him with my back leaning against the wall beside the door and my legs laying in his lap. His hands began to trace the bare skin of my legs which sent shivers down my spine. "So..." was all I could say, and I could feel the air turn slightly awkward.

We remained in awkward silence until we look at each other and began to laugh. I leaned off the wall while laughing to wrap my arms around his shoulders so I could lean my head on his shoulder. I felt one of his arms wrap around my waist to pull me closer to him. "I like you too, Emilia. I guess seeing you with that blonde guy just made me realise it," George informed me which caused me to chuckle lightly.

"You mean you were jealous?" I asked jokingly as I looked up at him with a giant grin on my face.

I saw his eyes roll at me which made me laugh before lightly kissing his cheek and I watched as his cheeks turned red to match his hair. "This question is overdue but...Emilia Black, will you be my girlfriend?" George asked me as he rested his forehead against mine.

I smiled at him before pulling him into a kiss to answer his question. We continued kissing until he pulled away and asked; "So I'm guessing that's a yes?"

I let out a laugh as I nodded before pulling him into another kiss. This is definitely a train ride to remember.


	13. Caught

**EMILIA**

* * *

 **THE** day after we returned back to Hogwarts, Harry had scheduled a DA meeting where he was attempting to teach us how to produce a Patronus. "Make it a powerful memory, the happiest you can remember. Allow it to fill you up," he instructed as he walked around the room.

"A full-bodied Patronus is the most difficult to produce... but shield forms can also be equally useful against a variety of opponents," Harry continued to explain as he walked past Ginny who flicked her wand and recited the spell.

A silver mist expelled from the end of her wand and from the mist, a horse formed. "Fantastic, Ginny," Harry exclaimed with a bright smile on his face.

I closed my eyes and began to think of my happiest memory.

 _"To the Angel I entrust my life... And vow to uphold the laws of heaven. I take this mark to honour Him; To bring His light into me... And vow to uphold the laws of heaven. So I may join the ranks of the Protectors the guardians of peace," I spoke the vow as I stood in front of the Silent Brother._

 _He held out a stele and point it over my chest before he began to place the Angelic rune. I winced slightly from the pain, but my face remained emotionless. Once the rune was complete, I turned around to face the group surrounding me who were my mother, my aunt Natalia, my uncle Samuel and my cousins, James and Isaac. Mum rushed towards me and pulled me into her arms. "Congratulations, sweetie," she whispered into my ear before pulled away._

 _She reached into the inside pocket of her jacket and pulled out a ruby necklace that was framed by a silver frame and a wrapped cuff that was shaped into a lion. She clipped the necklace around my neck and placed the bracelet on my right wrist. "Since you have chosen a whip as your weapon, I had the Iron Sisters create something special for you," she informed me as she pointed to the bracelet._

 _I watched as the bracelet come alive and slide down my wrist to form into a whip. I gasped in shock before a giant grin formed on my face. "Thanks, Mum," I said to her as I leapt into her arms again, hugging her tightly._

With that memory in my mind, I called out with a flick of my wrist, "Expecto Patronum."

Much like Ginny, a silver mist expelled from my wand and it formed into a lion which roared loudly, causing everyone to look towards me. I began to laugh as the giant cat began to circle around my legs. I looked up at Harry who nodded towards me. "Just remember, your Patronus can only protect you for as long as you stay focused. So focus," he informed everyone as he continued walking around the room.

I looked around the room to see Hermione began circled by an otter while Ron's patronus had formed into a dog and tripped over another boy. As Luna's bunny began to bounce around the room, the room began to shake which made everyone stop and turn towards where the door always formed. Suddenly, the glasses shattered to reveal a hole in the wall. "I'll make short work of this. Bombarda Maxima," the pink toad's voice called out before the wall exploded.

I reached down to grab George's hand as the blast revealed the toad with the Inquisitor Squad behind her. Malfoy pulled someone in front of him to reveal Cho who was avoiding eye contact with the rest of us. My stele fell from its hidden place inside my sleeve to my hand where I gripped it tightly. As everyone was distracted enough, I pulled my hand away from George's and quickly drew a rune on my hand as I heard the toad demand; "Get them."

I held my hand out and a bright light formed from my hand and blinded everyone in front of me. "Run!" I ordered those around me.

Everyone but Harry bolted from the room as Umbridge and the Inquisitor Squad were blinded. Harry signalled for me to run which I followed as I was expecting him to follow me. He, however, didn't as he let himself get caught to save the others.

We found out later that Dumbledore left and now Umbridge was Headmistress and she knew who was apart of DA because we had left the list of all the names in the Room of Requirement. I knew I would receive the worst punishment along with Harry due to me almost blinding her which made me wish that I had actually blinded her.


	14. Runes

**EMILIA**

* * *

 **MY** left hand tightened as the hall echoed with small gasps and grunts of pain. I didn't feel any pain from the words being etched into my skin from the quill I was forced to use. I looked up at the pink toad as she took in the sounds of pain with glee making my eyes narrow at her. Bloody Demons were nicer than she was.

Umbridge made eye contact and glared when she realised that I wasn't feeling any pain which caused a large smirk to form on my face. She would have to try harder if she wanted to break me...a lot harder.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally let us go. I noticed Cho was standing outside the hall and everyone who passed her ignored her and some even bumped into her. I scowled at her when I walked past her and rolled my eyes when she saw her trying to talk to Harry. I felt George wrap an arm around my shoulders and he pulled me into his side. "How's your hand?" he asked me which made me shake my head and reach up to grab his scarred hand that was resting on my shoulder.

"I should be asking you that," I told him, resting my head against his shoulder...well his upper arm as he was almost a foot taller than me.

I run my thumb over his new scar as we made our way to the Gryffindor Common Room. The Common Room was busy as it was just before dinner and classes had finished for the day. As I went to sit down in the empty spot beside Ginny on the couch in front of the fireplace, George grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the boys' staircase where he pulled to his dormitory.

I drew the curtains around his bed to give us privacy as I pushed my cloak off my shoulders and pulled my grey sweater off. I loosened my tie and pulled it off and as I began to unbutton my white blouse, I saw George look away and his body tensed up which caused a giggle to escape my lips. "Don't worry George," I told him as I pulled off my blouse to reveal I was wearing a white razorback tank underneath.

His shoulders relax when he saw my tank as I toed off my shoes. I reached into my cloak and pulled out my stele from its hiding spot before running it over my Iratze rune that was on my left bicep, causing it to glow gold. I felt the scarred skin on my left hand begin to stitch together until the back of my hand was unmarked. I tucked my stele back into my cloak when I felt George trace the rune on the back of my right shoulder. "What do they mean?" he asked me as I felt his chest against my back before he placed a kiss on my shoulder.

"Heightened speed," I pointed to the rune he was tracing before pointing to the one on the back of my left shoulder; "Courage in combat."

I moved my hand to the right side of my neck; "Deflect."

I could feel George's eyes moved along with my hand as I moved it to my centre bust; "Angelic power."

"Fortitude," I said as I pointed to the rune on the front of my right shoulder.

My hand moved to the front of my left shoulder; "Talent."

I had now moved onto my arms as I pointed to the top of my right shoulder; "Stealth."

Keeping to my right arm, I pointed to my upper bicep; "Soundless." Before I continued down my arm to my outer forearm; "Acceleration."

I flipped my arm around to show my inner forearm; "Shape-shifting."

Before I could continue, George grabbed my hand as he spoke with a raised eyebrow; "Shape-shifting?"

His question caused a smirk to form on my face as I grabbed my stele from my cloak. I ran my stele over the rune which caused it to grow gold before my features shifted to match his. A laugh escaped my lips as I watched him jump away from me in shock. Once I had finished laughing, I ran my stele back over the rune causing my features to change back.

George grabbed my stele and inspected it. "Steles are much like wands. Everyone is different. They allowed Protectors to draw on our skin, weapons and other materials. And as you have seen, we also use them to activate our runes," I informed him as I watched him trace over the lion that was curled around the body of my stele.

"What would happen if you drew a rune on me?" he asked as he held out my stele for me to take back.

"Either turn you into a Forsaken or kill you," I answered, tucking my stele back into my cloak and shifting my body to rest my head on his chest.

I noticed his brows frown in confusion to what I explained further; "Forsakens are mundanes that are driven insane from a rune's angelic rune. They are disfigured and mutilated mindless beings that attack and follow orders, particularly the orders from the person who turned them."

"Mundanes...that's muggles, right?" George asked, unsure about asking his question.

"Mundanes means Non-Nephilim and Non-Downworlder," I answered as I watched my fingers making patterns against his chest.

"There is only one rune that works with Witches and Wizards is the marriage rune. My Mum and Dad were the first to discover that," I explained, my voice cracking when mentioning Mum.

I felt George curling the ends of my hair around his finger as he placed a light kiss against my forehead. His other hand was tracing my heightened speed rune as he did before. We fell into silence as I felt my eyelids began to drop before shutting completely. A small smile appeared on my lips as I cuddled further into George before I fell asleep, contempt with my life in this very moment.


End file.
